Automatic dough panning machine



March 25, 1952 (3, RHODES 2,590,823

AUTOMATIC 'DOUGH PANNING MACHINE Filed July 7, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR- HERBERT c RHODES ATTORNEY March 25, 1952 H. c. RHODES AUTOMATIC DOUGH PANNING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 7, 1949 INVENTOR. HERBERT C RHODES ATTORNEY March 25, 1952 v c, RHODES 2,590,823

AUTOMATIC DOUGH PANNING MACHINE Filed July 7, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 lwillllltlltllllil4rliliifiplllll.l

I INVENTOR. HERBERT c RHODES ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 25, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,590,823 AUTOMATIUDOUGH PANN-INGMACHINE .Herbert 1 C. i Rzhodes, Portland, reg., assignor to .Read Standard"Corporation a corporation of Delaware flspplicationtlulyq, 1949,-Se'rial'N'0. 103,338

will :be separately andcautomatically 1 placed ,in

the baking panspreparatory. to ..the.jde1ivery: of

the pans to-the baking ovens.

Where the mixing-J and lhandling. of the; dough is done bymachin'e it is customaryztdhaveamolded pieces of dough delivered xconsecutively, for example, fromarr endlessnonveyor belt; into baking 'pans, wh'ile'-the pans alsoiare moved by. suitable conveyormeans so thatleachpan .will :be placed in position for having TthEldESilBd amount of dough ldepositedxtherein.andithence moved on while its place is takenby-thernext. consecutive empty pan.

One of the -objectssiofnthe zpresentinventionxis to provide improved means for-delivering. pieces or dough. into -thetpans consecutively for ,automatically -positioning reach .pan to receive its amount of dough, ."for eholding v.the pan; temporarily in such position r-vvhile: the 1dough;is,;being deposited in thezpan. and then causingthe-dough filled pan tobexmbvedon.

In bread making the bread mayzbebakedeither in the form ofesingleziloaves thatfis to say. with one piece of tdough: in ieachzbakin r. pan,-,. 1 0 in the familiar ,idouble :"loaves .;in.Wh-ich ,tWO

pieces of ldoughwar'eaplaced 'side' by "side in theisame baking pan.

It .is va further .objectbf the present invention to provide improved :pan-loading means whereby either. a single piece of dough will be placed in each pan or, when; desired, :by slight adjusting of the means, twoipieces, of dough will-be similarly caused to beplaced, side :by side in each pan, the delivery and placing :of the. dough pieces in both cases taking place-automatically.

A further obj ectof; this invention is to. provide arr-improved automatic g pan loader for use for single or double loaves-which willbe simple in construction and practical and convenient (to operate and I maintain.

I. attain these :particular objects, .-as well -=as other advantages, .through-amy improved-dou h Fig. 2 is an elevation of. the machine. of'Fig. 1' taken from the right .in Fig. 1, the pan controlling means being indicated by 'broken'lines;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional elevation taken on line 3 3 of Fig-2 but drawn to a larger :scale;

Fig. 4 is aufragmentary sectional elevation on line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig.5 is asectional elevation one larger scale of part of thesame mechanism:shownimFiga4; Fig. 6 isa view taken on line.6--16of.:Fig.-;5;

Fig. '7 is a sectional elevationshowing thexdetails of one of the pair of air valve -control assemblies employed in my device, the valve control assembly of this figure corresponding -to-that shown in Fig. 3; and

"Fig. 8 is a plan view of-a-set of bread pans adapted for receiving the pieces of dough, -the plan View being taken on lines 8--8 of-Figs. 2

and 4.

Referring first to Fig. 1, my dough panloader is installed in the discharging end portion of a dough delivery machine -Whl0h is indicated in general by the reference character I0. Hollow side wall housings II and I2 are located-at opposite sides in the upper portion of the dough delivery machine and terminate short of the end of the machine. An'endless belt 15, passing over an end roller l6 (shown in Fig. 4), and -driven by suitable means (not shown), carries the separate pieces of dough D from th'edough .molding rolls (not shown) tothe right, as viewed in Figs. 1 and 4, for delivery to the baking pans P.

.The baking pans P, which are customarily arranged in sets with the pans of each set secured together in parallel spaced relationship within a frame i'i (Figs. i and 8) ,are moved along (from left to rightas viewed in Figs. 1 and 4).on an endless traveling belt I8 in the usual manner. Longitudinally-extending side guide rails vI 9 (Fig. 1) keep the sets of pans positioned on the traveling belt l8, the guide rails 59 preferably being adjustably mounted to accommodate pans of different lengths. This eneral arrangement of having thebaking pans moved alongon a traveling belt or conveyor and having the pieces of dough carried on a traveling belt. positioned above and parallel to the pan belt, but terminating short of the pan belt so that the pieces of doughat the end of their travel on the upper belt can drop down into the pans on the lower belt, is well known and common to machines of this type.

However, instead of'having the pieces ofdough D drop directly from the belt l5 into the pans- P, Ihave found it more-desirable for the pieces of dough to be deposited first into a trough-like dispenser located just beyond and below the belt 15, and then, after momentarily being held in such dispenser, to be deposited from the dispenser into the pans. This arrangement has the two-fold advantage of breaking the fall of the pieces of dough from the upper belt down into the pans and of enabling the depositing and positioning of the dough in the pans to be more accurately controlled. Such a trough-like dispenser into which each piece of dough first passes when dropping from the conveyor belt 15 is composed of a stationary plate 26 (Figs. 1 and 4) supported between the opposite inner walls of the side housings H and i2, and a cooperating hinged plate 2| secured to a shaft 22. The ends of the shaft 22 are rotatably supported in the housings H and I2. The manner in which the dispenser operates and the means by which its operation is automatically controlled will now be briefly explained.

A pair of identical housings l3 and 14 (Figs. 1 and 2) are located above the side wall housings ii and [2 respectively in transverse alignment with each other. An identical air valve control assembly is located in each of the housings l3 and 14. A shaft 23 has its ends rotatably supported in the housings l3 and I4 respectively. A cam member is secured to each end of the shaft 23 within these housings. One of these cam members is shown at 24 in Fig. 3. A dough-engageable trip plate 25 (Figs. 1, 2 and 4) rigidly attached to the shaft 23 is so arranged as to be lifted whenever it is encountered by a piece of dough moving with the traveling belt I5. Thus as a piece of dough moves under the trip plate 25 the lifting of the trip plate will cause a partial rotation of the shaft 23 in one direction and the dropping of the trip plate when the piece of dough has passed beyond the trip plate will cause corresponding partial rotation of the shaft '23 in the opposite direction. The trip plate 25 is formed of any suitable metal or plastic and the bottom is preferably curved in the direction of travel of the dough so as to facilitate the sliding of the dough under the free end of the trip plate as the free end rests on the dough.

The air valve assembly, which is located within 'the housing l3, includes a vertical mounting plate 26 (Figs. 3 and 7) which carries a block 21. The plate 26 and block 21 are supported on a pivot pin 28 and the plate 26 has an upstanding top arm 29 which is held between a pair of adjusting screws 36 and 3| (Fig. 3). Thus the plate 26 can be raised slightly upwardly or downwardly in its vertical plane by adjustment of the screws 36 and 31. The block 21 is bored to provide inlet and outlet channels and a valve chamber as shown in Fig. '7. Thus an inlet channel 32 connects with a valve chamber 33 in which the customary ball valve and spring are located as illustrated. A valve-operating piston 34, slidable in a piston chamber, has an inner stem 35 of reduced diameter which engages the ball valve. The outer end of the piston 34 extends beyond the block 21. A channel 36 which crosses the piston channel and is thereby connected with the valve chamber 33, is connected to an exhaust port channel 3'! by an intermediate channel 38. The exhaust port channel 31 also crosses the piston channel. The inlet channel 32 is connected by a flexible tube 39 to a suitable source of compressed air (not shown). The channel 36 is connected by means of a flexible tube 40 (see also Fig. 3) to a cylinder having a pneumaticallyoperated piston, to be described later, which in 4 turn is connected with the hinged plate 2| of the trough-like dispenser.

As apparent from Fig. 7, movement of the piston 34 to the right a short distance will open the ball valve in chamber 33 and permit air under pressure delivered through tube 39 to pass into channel 36 and tube 40. At the same time the exhaust channel 31 will be closed by the piston 34. Similarly the return of the piston 34 to the left to the normal position shown in Fig. 7, will cause the ball valve to close and will then permit air to pass in the reverse direction through the tube 40 and channel 36 and be exhausted through channel 31. A pivoted arm 4|, mounted on the plate 26, engages the outer end. of the piston 34 and in turn .(Fig. 3) is engaged by the cam member 24 attached to the shaft 23 of the trip plate 25 (Fig. 2). Thus the lifting of the trip plate 25 by the passage of a piece of dough under the trip plate will cause the cam 24 to push the arm 4| and piston 34 to the right and thus operate the air valve previously described.

It will be apparent from Fig. 3 that the amount of movement of the cam 24 required for operating the air valve in the manner described can be adjusted by tilting the valve mounting plate 26 up or down, which adjustment may be accomplished by means of the screws 30 and 3|. Thus, for example, if very small pieces of dough are passing through the machine and causing the trip plate 25 to be lifted only a short distance,

thus producing only slight movement of the cam member 24, it may become necessary to tilt the air valve mounting plate 26 downwardly slightly from the position shown in Fig. 3 so as to cause the limited movement of the cam member 24 to produce sufiicient movement of the piston 34 for properly operating the air valve.

Referring further to Fig. 3, an air cylinder 42, supported in theside wall of the machine, has a piston mounted therein which is attached to a piston rod 43. The piston rod 43 is connected at the top to an arm 44 secured to an end of the shaft 22 (see also Fig. 2) of the hinged plate 2| of the dispenser. A coil spring 45 on the piston rod 43, which is held under compression between the end of the cylinder 42 and a collar 46 secured on the piston rod, acts to hold the piston rod and piston normally in the raised position shown in Fig. 3 and thus holds the hinged plate 2| normally in the closed position indicated by the broken lines in Fig. 3. When the trip plate 25 is lifted momentarily by contact with a piece of dough, the resulting actuation of the air control valve located in the housing I3 causes compressed air to pass through the tube 46 to the cylinder 42, moving piston and piston rod 43 downwardly against the force of the spring 45 and swinging the hinged plate 21 of the dispenser momentarily into open position. This permits a piece of dough, deposited in the dispenser, to drop down into a pan beneath the dispenser. Such action will take place while the second piece of dough is passing beneath the trip plate 25. Then, as the trip plate 25 drops back to normal position, the hinged plate 2| of the dispenser also engagingdemented?'nd 'as ing 1) locatd in Slots at oppositesids of -tl le pan 'mo rug -ten l3. These pan-engaging elements-' 4! and l S are idenl'iical'-arl il are ide'iitioally mounted and identically operated. The position of each element longitudinally with respect to the direction 'of travel of the belt l8 may be adjusted 'separately'and consequentlythe t'woelements-41 and iB m'ay or maynotbe in alig'nment witheach-other transversely, the reason for this-being expl-aineddater. Since the two pan-engagingelements fl and 48 are identical, it will suffieeto describe *en'ly one of themin detail, for exan'iple' element 41. This will be now done With refer'ene'e'to Fi'gs. 4, 5 and 6.

'The pan-engagin'g'eleinent ll-(Figs. 5 and 6) "comprisesa substantially horizontal 'top -arm having an upwardly extending pan enga'ging finger '4'i at its outer end and a downwardly extending 'a'rm 48. The pan engagi'ngelement- 4'! is pivotally-'mounted' on a horizontal stub shaft fifi "which is supported in a pair'of bracketlugs attheupper forward end of a carriage block which is designated as whole by th-e reference character'til.

The carriage block 5! is slidably supported-on a pair of parallel stationary horizontal rods52 and 53. A threaded shaft 54 passes through a correspondingly' threaded channel'in the housing block 5| andthe forward orouter end of'this shaft extends beyondthe endof the machine housing and carries a hand-knob- 55 (Fig.4) through the manipulation of which'tl'ie housing block 5!, and

at the other end bya plug 58- and a threaded adjustable stop 59, mounted in the plug iifi'limits the movement of the piston-to the left as viewed in Fig. 5 A port 64] at the bottom of the cylindrical chamber 56 hasa'fiex'ible tube connected-with an air control valve locatedin housing M (Fig 2) Thusthe passage of air underpressure' into port 60 acts to move thepiston andpiston rod to the right as viewed in Fig. 5"and consequently causes thefinger 4'! of the pan-eng aging element 41 to be moved down out of engaging position with the pans on the traveling belt l8. A'coil spring t! in the cylinder chamber '56 moves thepiston and piston rod back to the left when the valve control permits air to pass-from the chamber lit out through the port so instead of being delivered into the chamber through that port, and a light coil spring 62, preferably mounted'asf'shown in Fig. 5, normally holds the bottom end of the'arm 49 against the outer end of the piston rcdiii' and thus keeps the engaging finger i'l normally in raised position, but also permitting the finger to be pressed'down by anysl ight weight on the The other pan-engaging element 48, as previously mentioned, is mounted in a similarhousing block, the position of which is similarlyad- 'justable, and which housing block is provided "with asimilar cylindrical air chamber and'piston. The

air chambers of the housingblocks of both pan- -engaging elements '41 and 48 are connected by means of flexible tube 63 to an air Valve control assembly located in' housing [4. This airvalve *control assembly' in "housing" "l a is or th'e same construction and iamourited ineXactly the sa'm'e manner as the air valve assembly in housing I3,

I and consequently is s'imi-larly actuated by the' lift- 5 ing. of the trip plate -25. "Thus 'Whenthe trip plate 25 is raised by the passage of a pieceof dough under the trip plate both' pan engaging elements t! and 48 are momentarily pulled down out of engaging positionso as to allow apan--Ion the belt [8 to startmoving.

When only a single loaf is to be baked' inieach pan, "thus when only one pie'ceiof .dough is to be deposited irieaoh'-pan, the two pan-engagingiiele- 'men'ts 41 and 48 are .positioned so that theytarein transverse alignment with each ;other and both actin unison to allow intermittent'movement of a-set of'pans, one pan atatim'e. When double =loaves -a're 'to bemade, requiring two -pi'eces 0f dough "ineach -pan, one of the pan' engagingelements is positioned ah'ead ofthe oth'er as illustrated in Fig. '1. Sinceanimportant feature :of myJinver ition is" the factlthat itcan be used in the loading of pans for double loavesae wellas single loaves, I shall "describe the operation of lny pan l'oaderbri'efiy for double loaves.

Referringto 'Figs. 1 and4, boththe endless belts li and 88, on whichthe pieces'ofmoldeddough and the setsof pans areca'rried respectivelyare run Without interruption. "When aset o'f-xpans, however, comes 'into Contact with the upwardlyextending finger of one of'thepan-engaging elements, for example, theelem'ent' 4'8 asv'iewed'in Fig. 1, the travel of thepans willtemporarily'be halted and the belt 18 will moveund'erthe pans while the pans are held between the sideguide rails to and blocked" by the engaging element-48. ,g When one of the molded dough pieces has been deposited in the closed trough'like -dispenser and a second piece of dough-'eng'ages the trip plat-teat, the lifting of the trip plate by 'the-second pie'ce of dough causes the dispenser to=open*a' nc'l the first mentioned piece of dough to drop into an empty pan. With the engaging element lii properly positioned, this fi'rst piece-of dough willdrop the forward half A of-lthe first pan. 'Thedifting of the trip plate zfi will also cause the-engaging' elem'ents'flt and i'l to be'momenta "lylowered, With the result-that the pans wills'ta rtmoving I under the frictional :pull exerted' by i'the bel't i8. -Howe'ver,=ias soon a'S-the" second piece'of do-uglrhas -moved beyond the trip' plate 25"th'e dispenserwill close-and the engaging elements l? :anum 8' will: be

. released. During "this brief. inter-vallthe firstpan with the first piece of dough placed therein will not have i moved l asv far' as the-i engagirrg element l'i and co'nseuuently the release of the pan engaging elements from their lowered positions will cause the second engaging element 3! now to act to block the 'io'rward movement of the 1 pan while-the other engaging element 35-being-underneath the same pan, will temporar-ily be held down by the weightof the-pan. "With the pan held i'n the second-position, the trip plateis lifted by -'-a-third piece of dough causing the second piece ofdoughto pass from the dispenser in-to its place-inthe rearhalf of'the firstpan; and'so on. If*only asingle-loaf is to be baked iii-each pan, the p-an-engagingelements are quickly adjusted into transverse alignment withea-ch other, whereupon they both act in unison to permit the pans tomove ahead one pan at a timeyaspreviously mentioned.

In my pan loader these various adjustments are very easily and verysimplytaken'care' 01 and 75 all that is required f0rthe"0p'erati0fl orthe'lo'addelivery means and actuated bythe movement er is a single suitable sourcebf compressed air. While various modifications couldbe made in the individual sections and members oi my loader, andit is not my intention to limit myinvention otherwise than as set forth in the claims, the particular construction which I have illustrated and described I consider as the preferred form and manner for the carrying out of my invention, parof pieces of dough past said trip plate, a control operated by said trip plate, said control governing the operation of said air-actuated piston to effect movement of said member of said dispenser to open position upon engagement of said trip plate by a piece of dough, means for moving dough pans consecutively into position beneath said dispenser to receive pieces of dough discharged from said dispenser, a pan-engaging element for halting the travel of said dough pans, an air-actuated piston for moving the pan-engaging element out of pan-engaging position, and a second control operated by said trip plate governing the operation of said second mentioned piston to eiTect movement of said pan-engaging element out of pan-engaging position upon engagement of said trip plate by a piece of dough 2. In a dough pan loader of the character de scribed, a trough-like dough dispenser, a hinged plate in said dispenser permitting dough to drop from said dispenser when said plate is swung to open position, an air-actuated piston for swinging said plate to open position, spring means normally holding said plate in closed position, a conveyor belt for delivering pieces of dough into said dispenser, a dough-contacting trip plate extending over said conveyor belt and actuated by the movement of pieces of dough past said trip plate, a control operated by said trip plate, said control governing delivery of air under pressure to said air-actuated piston to effect swinging movement of said plate of said dispenser to open position upon engagement of said trip plate by a piece of dough, and means for moving dough pans consecutively into position beneath said dispenser to 5 receive pieces of dough discharged from said dispenser.

3. In a dough pan loader of the character described, a trough-like dough dispenser, a hinged plate in said dispenser permitting dough to drop from said dispenser when said plate is swung to open position, an air-actuated piston operatively connected with said plate for swinging said plate to open position, means normally holding said plate in closed position, a conveyor belt for delivering pieces of dough into said dispenser, a dough-contacting element associated with said conveyor belt and actuated by the movement of pieces of dough past said element, an air pressure supply line leading to said air-actuated piston, a control valve interposed in said line, said valve normally connecting said air-actuated piston to exhaust and being operative in response to movement of said dough contacting element, upon said element being engaged by a piece of 8 dough, to admit air under pressure to Saldair actuated piston to efiect swinging movement 01 said plate of said dispenser to open position, and a second conveyor belt located below said dispenser and said dough conveyor belt for moving dough pans beneath said dispenser.

4. In a dough pan loader of the character described, a conveyor belt for delivering pieces of dough, a dough-contacting trip plate extending over said conveyor belt and actuated by the movement of pieces of dough past said trip plate, pan conveying means located below said dough conveyor belt for moving dough pans, a pair of panengaging elements located adjacent said pan conveying means for halting the travel of said dough pans with said pan conveying means, each of said pan-engaging elements mounted in a movable carriage, means for adjustably moving each of said carriages independently and in a direction parallel to the direction of travel of said pan conveying means, an air-actuated piston supported in each of said carriages operatively connected with a respective pan-engaging element for moving the pan-engaging element out of panengaging position, an air pressure supply line having a connection with each of said air actuated pistons, and a control valve interposed in said line, said valve being operative in response to movement of said trip plate, upon said trip plate being engaged by a piece of dough, to admit air under pressure to said air-actuated piston to effect movement of said pan-engaging elements out of pan-engaging position.

5. In a dough pan loader of the character described, a conveyor belt for delivering pieces of dough, a dough-contacting trip plate extending over said conveyor belt and actuated by the movement of pieces of dough past said trip, a second conveyor belt located below said dough conveyor belt for moving dough pans, a pair of pan-engaging elements located adjacent said pan conveyor belt for halting the travel of said dough pans with said pan conveyor belt, each of said pan-engaging elements mounted in a movable carriage, means for adjustably moving each of said carriages independently and in a direction parallel to the direction of travel of said pan conveyor belt, an air-actuated piston in each of said carriages for moving the pan-engaging element out of pan-engaging position, a spring in each carriage acting to raise the pan-engaging element into engaging position, and a control valve operated by said trip plate governing the operation of said air-actuated pistons in said carriages, whereby the engagement of said trip plate by a piece of dough will cause said pan-engaging elements to be moved out of pan-engaging position for the reason described.

6. An automatic dough pan loader of the character described including a trough-like dough dispenser, a hinged member in said dispenser permitting dough to drop from said dispenser when said member is swung to open position, a conveyor belt for delivering pieces of dough into said dispensena dough-contacting tripplate extending over said conveyor belt and actuated by the ase aas pan conveyor belt for halting the travel of said dough pans with said pan conveyor belt, air-actuated pistons for movingthe pan-engaging elements out of pan-engaging position, and a control operated by said trip plate governing the operation of said air-actuated pistons to effect movement of said pan-engaging elements out of pan engaging position upon engagement of said trip plate by a piece of dough.

7. An automatic dough pan loader of the character described comprising a trough-like dough dispenser, a hinged plate in said dispenser permitting dough to drop from said dispenser when said plate is swung to open position, an air-actuated piston for swinging said plate to open position, spring means normally holding said plate in closed position, a conveyor belt for delivering pieces of dough into said dispenser, a dough-contacting trip plate extending over said conveyor belt and actuated by the movement of pieces of dough past said trip plate, an air control valve operated by said trip plate, said air control valve governing the operation or said airactuated piston, whereby the engagement of said trip plate by a piece of dough will cause said plate of said dispenser to swing to open position, a second conveyor belt located below and said disdough pans beneath said dispenser, a pair of panment into engaging position, and a second control a valve operated by said trip plate governing the operation of said air-actuated pistons in said carriages, whereby the engagement of said trip plate by a piece of dough will also cause said panengaging elements to be moved out of pan-engaging position for the reason described.

HERBERT C. RHODES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,781,546 Harber Nov. 11, 1930 I 1,871,216 Kirschhoff Aug. 9, 1932 2,349,423 Harber May 23, 1944 

